Why did Mississippi State dismiss Joe Moorhead? AD John Cohen points to 'series of events' during coach's tenure
Joe Moorhead’s tenure at Mississippi State lasted only two seasons and while those inside the state saw it coming, many observers around the Southeastern Conference and across the nation are wondering why the Bulldogs would remove a coach with an overall winning record and two Egg Bowl wins.
So what was it exactly that caused the school’s leadership to cut bait so quickly on Coach Moorhead?
During his Friday press conference, Mississippi State AD John Cohen continually mentioned a “series of events” when asked why Moorhead is now out in Starkville. Keep in mind, just over a month ago, Cohen issued his support for Moorhead and committed to a contract extension for the coach.
While Cohen would not address whether that extension had been signed by Moorhead, he noted he made that statement due to the momentum the program had heading into bowl season. The Bulldogs closed the season by winning three of their final four games and were closing in one a top 25 recruiting class.
Now just a few weeks later, the program is looking for a new leader.
“Again, I will say that I felt like at the time we built some momentum and I was so excited about that momentum continuing forward for the next 30 days to bowl prep,” Cohen said. “To me again, we’re evaluating that whole time and again some incidents came up that kind of altered our course in this process.”
Did Moorhead lose the team in terms of discipline and accountablity?
“Well, certainly, I’m not going to dig in deep into that, but there was a series of events, we had to evaluate and we had to make the right decision for Mississippi State University,” Cohen said on Friday.
When was the decision to fire Joe Moorhead made?
“Well, it’s a never-ending evaluation process,” Cohen responded. “I can’t – I’m not going to pinpoint an exact moment, but certainly, I had many discussions with our President, Dr. Mark Keenum, during the course of the week. And actually you know we’re having conversations all the time before this week, so I’m not sure there’s an isolated moment. Again, it’s a series of events over time.”
Was it just one thing that led to Moorhead’s firing?
“I’m not trying to be repetitive but it’s, again it’s a series of events. I think rarely is there one isolated event that causes a change,” he said. “I think, I know this was a series of events that happened, and we were I think we do a pretty good job of monitoring every aspect of the program. And again, we felt it was the right thing to do.”
I’ve seen this situation a couple of times in my working life after school. Blame and fire till no one’s left by you. I hope Cohen keeps his resume updated, shouldn’t be long now
WTF are you smoking dude? Cohen probably saved his job by firing this bum before he completely ran our program into the ground.
apparently, you haven’t been out in the working world. who do you think the axe falls on next time? Save his job for how long? This firing was handled poorly and not a good look for State, and that my friend, falls squarely on Cohen. I don’t know if Moorehead was warned or what was said that led up to this, but if it wasn’t done properly, getting a qualified candidate to take Mooreheads place, will be hard to do. which leads back to my comment about keeping his resume updated
We already have his replacement. It is Napier. It will be announced on Monday or Tuesday.
“I don’t know if Moorehead was warned or what was said that led up to this”
Then clearly you are out of touch with the entire situation.
In business, you also don’t continue to let underperformers leach off your company. You fire them. See how that works both ways?
Dawg44. Do you know what was said? Was he warned? Do you have inside knowledge? were you there? I doubt it. You are right about one thing, I don’t know the entire situation.
Jomo. I hope so, sounds like a good coach
Napier would fit Cohen’s style:
Quick hire. Qualifies on paper based on “available” coaches. Guy jumps at the chance. Doubts about readiness for the transition.
Like someone else put it: I don’t want Rick Ray, but outside the box wouldn’t hurt. Even a very unsexy hire if it’s a “fit”
There’s no indication Cohen’s job is in any jeopardy. Just like the firing of Cannizaro … timing sucked, but doesn’t mean it wasn’t the right thing to do. As with the Cannizaro firing, Cohen is choosing not to drag Cannizaro (or State) through the mud with gory details … it seems pretty clear that off-field and team discipline issues had as much to firing Moorhead as on-field performance. Also, I seriously doubt you can find a single legitimate, professional SEC analyst that won’t say State clearly under-performed the last 2 seasons … the expectation can be “getting the most out of what you have,” without being unreasonable or unrealistic.
Look, I said that Cohen’s remarks about the Music City Bowl and his expectations wasn’t hot air and coach speak. My guess is Moorhead was under much more scrutiny than we all know of or about. I said it felt like a warning to the players and staff. Turns out it was at that. I would also bet that Cohen is being rather vague due to a termination agreement. Since we haven’t heard about a pay out, I would also surmise it was for cause as well. His wording now allows Moorhead to go else where with less hardship.
I’m sure you’re right about all your points. I do know that the coaching world is a small place and word gets out. If it was handled properly, I think State’s good.
Maybe “a total loss of team control” might have been a reason ?